The Forest view on Assombalonga's return

The £15m man got a rough ride from the home fans who hadn't taken too well to his City Ground departure - but he had enough chances to silence those supporters.

The Forest view:

"Three very good chances, ones that you’d have expected him to take and have seen him take during his City Ground career, will ensure he goes away feeling like he's missed a good opportunity for a goal or two on his return.

"The reception clearly got to him and his frustration boiled over late in the game when he went straight through Smith, picking up a deserved caution.

"He was trying too hard, and because so much of the focus had been on him in the build-up to the game, you sensed he was just having one of those afternoons.

"Everybody thought he’d score, and the bookmakers would have undoubtedly made a small fortune from punters expecting just that.

"But for Jordan Smith and Britt’s sheer desperation to score being his ultimate downfall, he could have earned his side a share of the spoils.

"There can be little doubt that should he stay fit, Assombalonga will score 15 goals for Boro this season as a bare minimum. For Forest, they have certainly won the battle for now."

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"In the first half in terms of playing the kind of football that we did and really taking the game to Middlesbrough and putting them on the back foot. Then in the second half when it got a bit hairy and tense, we defended our box really well and dealt with a bit of an onslaught.

"We have to do that side of the game to earn the right to play football and it is probably as complete as a performance that you are going to see from us this season.

"We seem to play better against the so-called better teams and I think we took the game to them. With the quality we have here, we have players to exploit the space and we are dangerous when we get into those areas."